BIO 160 1st Lecture Exam Reviewer
CHAPTER 1: THE WEB OF LIFE
DEFORMITY AND DECLINE IN AMPHIBIAN POPULATIONS
 Henderson, Minnesota
 30% - 40% Severely deformed Rana pipiens
o Missing or extra limbs
o Legs that are too short or bent in odd directions
o Bony growths out of their backs
 US  found in 46 states and in more that 60 sp of frogs,
salamanders and toads
o Some >90% of popn had deformities
 Decline of amphibian popn’s beginning late 1980s
 Alarming because:
o Started recently
o Some were located in protected areas
o Amphibians are biological indicators of the env
 Amphibians as biological indicators of the environment
o Amphibians have permeable skin and their eggs
lack shells
o Spend time partly in land and water
o Exposed to a wide range of potential threats
o Remain close to their birthplace throughout life so
decline of a local popn indicates deterioration of
local env conditions
Early observations suggest that parasites cause amphibian
deformities
 Stephen ruth discovered deformed pacific tree frogs
and long-toed salamanders in northern California (9
yrs b4 the one in minnesots)
o Pseudacris regilla  tree frogs
o Ambystoma macrodactylum  long-toed
salamander
 Stanley sessions  expert in amphibian limb
development
 All deformed amphibians contained parasite
o Ribeiroia ondatrae  trematode flatworm
o produced cysts close to area where limbs
form in tadpole
 Hypothesis: parasites caused the deformities
 Conclusion: similar but less severe
Laboratory experiment tests the role of parasites
 Pieter Johnson  put together Minnesota incident and
paper by sessions and Ruth
 No direct evidence that Ribeiroia infected P. regilla or A.
macrodactylum
 Surveyed 35 ponds in santa clara California
o 4 ponds contained deformed frogs
o 15%-45% tadpoles had extra limbs or
deformities
o Souce of concern: pollutants ang nag c-cause
(pesticides, PCBs, heavy metals)
 Similarites of 4 ponds: aquatic snail Helisoma tenuis
o One of two intermediate hosts for Ribeiroia to
complete life cycle and reproduce
 Controlled experiment
o Experimental group  P. regilla with parasites
o Control group  no parasites
o ↑ parasites, ↓ tadpole survival rates, ↑
deformities
 Ribeiroia caused deformities
o killed 60% of the tadpoles so may also be the
cause of decline
Multiple Factors influence Frog Deformities
 Ribeiroia also caused deformities in other amphibian sp.
o Western toads – Bufo boreas
o Wood frogs – Rana sylvatica
o Leopard frogs – Rana pipiens
 Effects of pesticides and parasites
o Joseph Kiesecker
o 6 ponds with Ribeiroia but only 3 with persticides
o 6 meshed cages per pond – 3 w mesh small
enough to block Ribeiroia
 Exposure to Ribeiroia was necessary for deformities to
occur
 In the presence of Ribeiroia, deformites more common in
ponds with pesticides
o Pesticides decrease frog’s ability to resist
infection
o Pesticide exposure lowers WBC  suppressed
immune system

 o Doesn’t mean that there are strong connections
Connections in nature can lead to unanticipated side
effects
 as seen in amphibian deformity and decline due to
pollution and Ribeiroia
 other factors that may contribute to amphibian
deformities
o addition of nutrients to natural or artificial ponds
 nutrients can enter a pond when rain or
snowmelt washes fertilizers from an
agricultural field into it
 fertilizer stimulate growth of algae
 snails that harbor Ribeiroia eat algae
 ↑ algae, ↑ snails, ↑ Ribeiroia
 Chain of events  events in the natural world are
connected
 Altering of one aspect can cause unanticipated changes
 Other examples of changes made to our local and global
environments
o Damming of rivers in Africa  schistosomiasis
 Dams favorable habitat for snails that
harbor trematode parasites
o Increase in the appearance and spread of new
diseases
 AIDS
 Lyme disease- caused by a bacteria,
Borrelia burgdorferi, that’s transmitted to
humans through a bite from an infected
black-legged or deer tick
 hantavirus pulmonary syndrome
 ebola
INTRODUCTION
 Humans = enormous impact on planet
o Human activities transform nearly half of earth’s
land surface and alter compo of atmosphere 
climate change
o Introduced species
o Ocean deterioration
 decline of fish stocks and coral reefs +
formation of dead zones (low O2 conc)
o actions often taken without considering natural
sys
o understand systems  anticipate consequences
 Natural systems
o Driven by the interaction of organisms w one
another and with the environment
o Ecology  scientific study of how organisms
affect and are affected by other organisms and
the environment
PILLAR OF ECOLOGY: EVERYTHING IS
INTERCONNECTED
CONNECTIONS IN NATURE
 Events in the natural world are interconnected
 Connections occur as organisms interact with one
another and with their physical environment
among all the organisms that live in an area
 All organisms are connected to features of their
environment
 Even species that do not interact directly can be
connected by shared features of their env
 Connections in nature can lead to unanticipated side
effects
DEFINITION OF ECOLOGY
Ecology = “oikos” + “logos”
Ernst Haeckel
 German scientist, philosopher, physician
“oekologie” – combined Greek words for “household” &
“knowledge”
 Definition- comprehensive science of the relationshop of
the org to env
Textbook Definitions
 Cain (2014) : Scientific study of interactions between
organism and their environment
o Others define ecology as the scientific study of
interactions that determine the distribution and
abundance of organisms
o Ecology refers to a scientific endeavor
 Burdon sanderson (1893): the science which concerns
itself with external relations of plants and animals to
each other and to the past and present conditions of
their existence
 Kerbs (1972): the scientific study of interactions that
determine distance and abundance of organisms
 Ricklefs (1973) : study of natural environment,
particularly the interrelationships bet org and
surroundings
 Likens (1992): scientific study of processes influencing
distribution and abundance of org, interactions among
 orgs, and the interactions between organisms and the  “there is a certain balance in nature, and there is a
transformation and flux of energy and matter place for all species. There is a reason for their
 Smith (1996): study of interrelations of org with their existence and we are not free to exterminate them.”
total environment, physical and biological Professional ideas on ecology
 Stilling (1998): branch of science dealing w 1. Natural systems do not necessarily return to their
relationships of living things to one another and to their original state after a disturbance
environment 2. Seemingly random perturbations often play an
 Miller (2005): study of interactions of living organisms important role in nature
with one another and with their nonliving environment of  Current evidence suggests that diff species often
matter and energy; study of structure and functions of respond in different ways to changing conditions
nature
 Molles (2008): study of relationships bet org and
environment
 Begon (2014): sci study of dist and abundance of org,
the interactions that determine that dist and abundance,
and the relationships between org and the
transformation and flux of energy and matter
 UPD PPL: required subj, field work, interactions w env
and each other, habitat, resources, food chain
Ecology has other meaning in its public usage

DIFFERENTIATING ECOLOGY FROM OTHER FIELDS

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
 How people impact the environment, take into
account people (Social science)
 Interdisciplinary field that draws concepts, expertise,
and tools from natural and social sciences
 Interdisciplinary field that incorporates concepts from
the natural sciences and social sciences (such as
politics, economics, ethics)
 Focused on how people affect the environment
MAXIMS OF ECOLOGY
 How we can address environmental problems
ENVIRONMENTALISM
 Having concern for, or acting in favor of the
environment
 Environmental movement  political and ethical
movement that seeks to improve and protect the
quality of the natural environment through changes to
environmentally harmful human activities
 EX: Rachel carson
o Cases of cancer sa areas with pesticide

PUBLIC VS PROFESSIONAL IDEAS ON ECOLOGY

Public ideas on ecology
1. Balance of nature in which natural systems are stable
and tend to return to an original preferred state after a
disturbance
2. Each species in nature has a distinct role to play in
maintaining that balance
 such ideas can have moral or ethical implications for
the people who hold them
 can lead people to think that each sp is important
and irreplaceable  cause people to feel wrong to
harm other species

SCALES OF ECOLOGY
THE SCALE OF AN ECOLOGICAL STUDY AFFECTS WHAT
CAN BE LEARNED FROM IT
 Boundaries on what is observed
 It is not possible or desirable to study everything at once
 Scale – most appropriate dimension in both time and
space for collecting observations
 We seek mechanistic links among patters and processes
across scales
 Ecological studies differ in time scales they cover
o Some use fossil data to show how the species
found in a given area have changed over time
ECOLOGICAL LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION
Ecology usually emphasizes one or more of the following
levels:
 Individuals
 Populations – group of individuals of a single species
that live in a particular area and interact with one
another
o Central questions of ecology: how and why the
locations and abundances of populations
change over time
o Often helpful to understand the roles played by
other species
 Communities – association of interacting populations
of different species that live in the same area
o Can cover large or small areas
o May differ greatly in terms of numbers and
types of species found within them
o composition and organization of ecological
communities
 Ecosystems – community of organisms plus physical
environment
o Biotic- living components of a natural sysem
o Abiotic- physical environment
o Pathways followed by energy and matter as
these move among living and non living
elements
 Landscapes- areas that vary substantially from one
place to another
o Typically includes multiple ecosystes
 Biosphere- consists of all living organisms on earth
plus the environments in which they live
o Global patterns of air and water circulation link
the world’s ecosystems
o Highest level of biological organization
o Global scale
KEY TERMS FOR STUDYING ECOLOGY
Evolution
 2 definitions of evolution
o A change in genetic characteristics of a
population over time
o Descent with modification, process by wc
organisms gradually accumulate differences from
their ancestors
Adaptation
 Defn: Characteristic of an organism that improves its
ability to survive or reproduce within its environment
 Critical in understanding how organisms fxn and interact
with one another
Natural Selection
 An evolutionary process in which individuals with
particular characteristics tend to survive and
 reproduce at a higher rate than other individuals
because of those characteristics
 Heritable characteristic selected for  offspring will
tend to have the same characteristics that gave their
parents an advantage
o Frequency of those characteristics may
increase over time
o Population will evolve
 Example: bacteria resistance
Producer
 Organism that can produce its own food from an
external energy source without having to eat other
organisms or their remains
 Aka primary producer or autotroph
Consumer
 Obtains energy by eating other organisms or their
remains
Net Primary Production
 The amount of energy that producers capture by
photosynthesis or other means minus the amount
they lose in cellular respiration per unit of time
 The amount of energy (per unit of time) that
producers fix by photosynthesis minus amount used
in cell respiratio
 Each unit of energy captured by producers is
eventually lost from the ecosystem as metabolic heat
o So energy moves through ecosystem in one
direction
o Energy cannot be recycled, but nutrients can
be recycled from physical environment to
organisms and back again
Nutrient Cycle
 Cyclic movement of a nutrient (like N or P) between
organisms and the physical environment
Climate
 Climate Change: directional change in climate (such
as global warming) that ovvurs over 3 decades or
longer
 Affects many aspects of ecology (ie growth and
survival of indiv)
Ecological patterns
Example: global distribution and abundance of red kangaroo
Distribution patters
 Distribution patterns may be characterized at a variety
of spatial scales (pwede local, global etc)
o Ex: tetrapphic moss
PROXIMAL VS. ULTIMATE EXPLANATIONS
 Q: why does an org exist where it does
 Proximal: physical environment, food eaten, parasites
predators
 Ultimate: ecological experience of its ancestors 
evolutionary
o Ex: how does it come about that co-existing
sp are often similar yet
PURE VS APPLIED ECOLOGY
 Type of environment an ecologists studies
o Nature
o Human-influenced
o Manmade
 Q: is there an environment completely unaffected by
human act
 Q: is there a human activity that does not affect the
environment
Applied ecology
 Applications of ecological principles to major env and
resource management problems
 Forest, range, wildlife and fishery management
 Conservation bio, restoration ecology, landscape
ecology
  “a sustainable future depends fundamentally on  Field experiments
ecological understanding and out ability to predict or Quantitative models
produce our outcomes under different scenarios” –  can predict change depending on given factors
Begon et al.
 “application of ecological theory must be based on a WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT ECOLOGY IS ALWAYS
sophisticated understanding of the pure science” – CHANGING
Begon et al  Our understanding of ecology is constrantly changing
 Scientific method
o Observe nature and ask a well framed
APPROACHES TO ECOLOGY question
 In an ecological experiment, an investigator alters one o Hypotheses: Use previous knowledge or
or more features of the environment and observes the intuition to develop possible answers
effect of that change o Evaluate copeting hypothesis by performing
o Allows scientists to test cause and effect experiments, gathering carefully selected
relationship observations. Or analyzing results of
o Includes a control group and an quantitative models
experimental set up o Use results, observations, or models to
 In some cases, it can be difficult or impossible to modigy one or more of the hypotheses to
perform an appropriate experiment pose new questions or draw conclusions
o EX: Events that cover large geographical Take home messages
regions or occur over long periods   Events in the natural world are interconnected
experiments can provide useful information  Scientific study of interactions bet org and env
but can’t provide convincing answers to  Ecologists evaluate competing hypothesis about
underlying questions natural systems w observations, experiments, and
o Ex: global warming models
o Approach these problems using a mixture of
observational studies, experiments, and If, as T.H. Dobzhanksky said, “nothing in biology makes sense,
quantitative approaches except in the light of evolution” then equally, very little in
Field observations evolution and hence biology as a whole makes sense except in
 Can be used to summarize the environmental the light of ecology.
conditions under which species are currently found
 observe and describe in a manner that captures the
whole thing faithfully
 Ex: Story of jane goodall
o Documented their use of tools
o Documented their hunting strategies- hunt as
a group
Experiments
 can be used to examine the performance of species
under different environmental conditions
 designed and analyzed in consistent wats
 Replication
o Each treatment, including control, is
performed more than once
o ↑ number of replicates , ↓ probability that
results are due to variables that weren’t
measured or controlled in the study
o accounts for possible effects of uncontrolled
variables
 Assigning treatments at random
o Lowers probability that plots that receive
particular treatment share other
characteristics that might influence results
 Statistical analyses
o To determine significance of results
 Controlled experiments: Lab, microcosm, mesocosm
160 LE
CHAPTER 2 NOTES
THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
CLIMATE VARIATION AND SALMON ABUNDANCE
 Grizzly bears of the pacific northwest feast seasonally
on the salmon that arrive in huge numbers to
reproduce in the streams of the region
o Grizzlies capitalize on the salmon’s
reproductive habits
o Forego their usual territorial behavior and
tolerate high frequencies of bears while
fishing salmon
 Salmon are anadromous
o Born in freshwater streams
o Spend adult lives in the ocean
o Return to freshwater to spawn
 Salmon now fished commercially in waters of the north

pacific ocean Steven hare and Robert Francis
o Economic base for many coastal o Changes in the marine environment where
communities salmon spend majority of their adult lives
o Successful reproduction for salmon depends could be contributing to the declines in
on the health of the streams in which they salmon abundance
spawn o Multi-decadal periods of low or high fish
 Decline of salmon population production have occurred repeatedly
o Due to construction of dams, increased  Nathan mantua and colleagues
stream sediments due to forest clear-cutting, o Periods of high salmon production in Alaska
water pollution, and overharvesting corresponded with periods of low southern
o Degradation of freshwater habitat production at the southern end of the salmon
o Decadal peaks and slumps sa graph range (Oregon and Washington)
 Summary of factors for these peaks  Hypothesis of steven hare and Robert Francis
o Quality of water (degradation of water habitat) o Abrupt shifts in salmon production were
o Degree of hunting (overharvesting) associated with long-term climate variation in
o Land use the north pacific
THE ECOLOGICAL NICHE
 The “ecological space” occupied by org
o Resource “space”
o Environmental tolerance
o Ecological role
 Ecological niches help us understand
o Main factors w/c limit population’s growth
o Mechanisms/factors that influence species
geographic distribution and abundance

People who defined Niche

1. Joseph Grinnell
Grinnellian Niche ≈ “Habitat”
The niche relationships of the California Thrasher (1917)
“The ultimate distributional unit within which each species is
held by its structural and instinctive limitations" (1928)
 Coined the term
 Habitat concept, emphasis on where the sp lives
 Sum of the habitat requirements that allow a species to
persist and produce offspring
2. Charles Elton
 Eltonian Niche ≈ “Profession” or “Role”

“The status of an animal in its community... its place in the
biotic environment, its relations to food and enemies" (1927)
 Functional concept
 Niche- role the sp plays in community rather than habitat
3. Dr. Seuss
And NUH is the letter I use to spell Nutches
Who live in small
caves, known as Niches, for hutches. These Nutches have
troubles, the biggest of which is the fact there are many more
Nutches than Niches. Each Nutch in a Niche knows that some
other Nutch Would like to move into his Niche very much. So
each Nutch in a Niche has to watch that small Niche Or Nutches  Incorporating facilitation into the niche concept recognizes
who haven’t got Niches will snitch. processes that can expand the amt of space used by the
4. G. Evelyn Hutchinson organisms
Hutchinsonian Niche = “n-dimensional hypervolume” o Incorporating facilitation into the niche concept
“an n-dimensional hypervolume... defined on axes [representing] recognizes processes that can expand the amount

all of the ecological factors relative to [the species]... [and] of space that meets the requirements of the funda
every point in which corresponds to a state of the environment niche and can mitigate the effects of niche shrinking
which [permits]...
the species... to exist indefinitely” (1958) factors like predation and competition
 N-dimensions  many aspects o Bc of mutualism lumalaki siya
Reminder: When we talk about species, we speak in a
continuum Example: barnacles
 We talk about species as an entity that is very defined but
really it is in a continuum
 It may be a species now pero tomorrow pwede mag
diverge
 Very dynamic concept

FUNDAMENTAL VS REALIZED NICHE

 F- niche in absence of interspecific competition and predation

 Fundamental- defined by organism’s adaptations to persist in
a given abiotic environment
o Basic aspects – where it is found, resources it uses,
tolerance
 Realized- often smaller than fundamental due to competition,
predation, parasitism, and recruitment limitation
o Has to do with relationships with other organisms
o Lumiliit yung niche because of comp, pred, etc.
o Could be larger than fundamental due to mutualism
 Katulong sa community so lumalaki yung
niche
 When facilitation is considered, the realized niche (green) can
be larger than the spatial range predicted by funda niche
(dashed line)
o Recall Mutualism or Facilitation
 R- niche in presence of competing and or predator species
o Brown yung fundamental niche
o Lumiit because of introduction of another species
INTRODUCTION
 Physical environment is the ultimate determinant of where
organisms can live, the resources that are available to
them, and the rate at which their populations can grow
Components of the physical environment
 Climate – long term trends in temperature, wind, and
precipitation
 Radiation from sun drives climate system as well as
biological energy production
 Chemical composition of air and water
o Salinity, acidity, concentration of gases in the
atmosphere and dissolved in water
 Soil – medium in which microorganisms, plants, and
animals live
o Influences availability of critical resources like
water and nutrients

CLIMATE
  Weather- current temperature, humidity, precipitation,
wind, and cloud cover
o Important determinant of behavior
 Climate – long term description of weather at a given
location, based on averages and variation measured over
decades
Climate variation
o includes daily and seasonal cycles associated with
changes in solar radiation as earth rotates on its
axis and orbits the sun
o includes changes over years or decades, such as
large-scale cyclic weather patterns related to
changes in the atmosphere and oceans
 El Niño Southern Oscillation
o Long term climate change occurs as a result of
changes in the intensity and distribution of solar
radiation reaching earth’s surface, as well as
changes in the overall energy balance
 Greenhouse effect
o Changes in concentrations of gases (i.e. carbon
dioxide) emitted into the atmosphere as a result of
human activity
o These gases absorb energy and radiate it back to
the surface
 Variables determined by climate
o Where organisms live
o Geographic distribution
o How organisms function
Climate controls where and how organisms live
 Temperature determines rates of biochemical reactions
and physiological activity for all organisms
 Precipitation
o Essential for terrestrial organisms
o Freshwater organisms dependent for the
maintenance and quality of their habitat
 Marine organisms depend on ocean currents that
influence the temperature and chemistry of the waters
they live in
 Extreme conditions
o Climate – characterize at a given location by the
average conditions over time
o But geographic distribution of organisms are
influenced by extreme conditions more than
average conditions
o Extreme events are important determinants of
mortality
o Temp and moisture extremes can affect even
long-lived organisms such as forest trees
o Ex: record high temp along with severe drought in
2000-2003 contributed to widespread mortality in
large stands of piñon pines (Pinus edulis) in
southwestern US
 These long lived plants could no longer
survive in the region where they existed for
decades
o Thus physical environment must also be
characterized by its variability over time not just by
average conditions to understand ecological
importance
o Frequency and severity of extreme temperature
events are predicted to increase in association
with global climate change
 Increase the probability of large scale
mortality of vegetation (ie pinon pines)
 Timing of changes in the physical environment
o Seasonality of rainfall
 Important in determining availability of
water for terrestrial organisms
 Mediterranean-type climate: precipitation
falls in winter
 Regular dry periods pag summer
 But more rainfall than desert
 Lack of water during summer
limits potential growth and
promotes fires
 Grasslands :In contrast to Mediterranean
 Same average annual temp and
precipitation
 Precip spread evenly throughout
yr
 Climate influences rates of abiotic processes that affect
organisms
o Rate at which rocks and soils are broken down
 To supply nutrients to plants and
microorganisms
 Climate can influence rates of periodic disturbances
o Ie: fires, floods, avalanches
 These kill organisms and disrupt biological
communities
 Subsequently create opportunities for the
establishment and growth of new
organisms and communities
GLOBAL ENERGY BALANCE DRIVES THE CLIMATE
SYSTEM
 Energy that drives global climate system is ultimately
derived from solar radiation
 Top of earth’s atmosphere = 342 watts/square meter / yr
o 1/3 reflected back out by clouds, aerosols, and
earth’s surface
 Aerosols = fine atmospheric particles
o 1/5 absorbed by ozone, clouds, water vapor
o ½ absorbed by land and water at earth’s surface
 Energy gains must be balanced by energy losses to keep
earth’s temp
o Much of the solar radiation absorbed by earth’s
surface is emitted to the atmosphere as infrared
radiation
o Infrared radiation = longwave radiation
 Latent heat flux – heat loss due to evaporation
o Earth’s surface loses energy and is cooled when
water evaporates
  Change in phase (Liquid  Vapor)
absorbs energy
 Sensible heat flux – energy transfer from the warm air
immediately above earth’s surface to cooler atmosphere
by convection and conduction
 Conduction and Convection
o Conduction- Exchange of kinetic energy by
molecules in direct contact
o Convection –movement of currents of air and
water
 Atmosphere absorbs infrared radiation emitted from
earth’s surface and reradiated is back to earth’s surgace
o Reradiation  energy gain
 Greenhouse gases
o Radiatively active gases  Movement of earth around sun + tilt of axis of rotation =
o Absorb and reradiate infrared radiation changes in amt of solar radiation received at any location
o H2O, CO2, CH4, N2O over the course of the year  seasonal climate variation
o Some are produced thru bio activity linking ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION CELLS ARE ESTABLISHED
biosphere to climate system IN REGULAR LATITUDINAL PATTERNS
o No greenhouse gases = cooler  Surface warmed by the sun emits infrared radiation and
warms the air above it
 Heating of earth’s surface varies with topography
 Differential warming creates pockets of warm air
surrounded by cooler air
 Warm air is less dense
 Uplift: Warm air will rise if surrounding air is much cooler
 Atmospheric pressure: force exerted on a pocket of air by
the air molecules above it
o Air pocket decreases with increasing altitude
o Warm air expands when it rises higher so less
ATMOSPHERIC AND OCEANIC CIRCULATION
atmospheric pressure
 Not every location on earth receives the same amount of o Expansion cools the rising air
energy from the sun o Cool air cannot hold as much water vapor as warm
o More solar energy is received per unit of area in air
the tropics o Air continues to rise and cool
 Equator vs poles o Water vapor contained within it begins to
o Equator – sun strikes perpendicularly condense into droplets and forms clouds
o Poles- angle of the sun’s rays becomes steeper
 Same amt of energy spread over a larger
area
 Amount of atmosphere the rays must
pass through increases towards the
poles  more radiation is reflected or
absorbed b4 reaching surface
 Differential input of solar radiation establishes latitudinal
gradients in temp and becomes the driving force for
climate dynamics (ie. Warm and cold fronts)

 Troposphere- atmospheric layer above earth’s surface

(cooler temp)
 Stratosphere- above troposphere (warmer temp)
 Condensation of water into clouds is a warming process
o Another form of latent heat flux
 o Keeps the pocket of air warmer than the
surrounding atmosphere and enhances its uplift
despite cooling due to expansion
o Air pockets cease to rise once it reaches the
stratosphere kasi warmer na yung temp
 Differential heating and storm formation
o Reason why tropics has the most precipitation
o Tropics – high solar radiation  greatest amount
of surface heating, uplift, and cloud formation
o Uplift of air in the tropics creates a band of low
atmospheric pressure relative to zones to the north
and south
o Rising air flows towards the poles pag na reach
yung boundary ng troposphere and stratosphere
o Poleward air movement cools as it exchanges
heat with the surrounding air and meets cooler air
moving from the poles toward the equator
o Subsidence creates regions of high atmospheric
pressure around latitudes 30 deg north and south
 inhibit dormation of clouds, formation of deserts
 Subsidence- descent of air when air reaches a temp
similar to that of surrounding atmosphere

 These atmospheric circulation cells establish major

climate zones on earth
o Tropical zones – bet 30 deg N and S
o Temperate zones – bet 30 and 60
o Polar zones – above 60
ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION CELLS CREATE SURFACE
WIND PATTERNS
 Hadley cell  Winds flow from areas of high pressure to areas of low
o Named after George Hadley pressure
 Polar cells  Prevailing winds – consistent patterns of air movement at
o At higher latitudes earth’s surface formed by areas of high and low pressure
o North and south poles from the atmospheric circulation cells
o Cold dense air subsides at the poles and moves  Prevailing winds
toward the equator when it reaches earth’s surface o Clockwise in the northern hemisphere
o Descending air at the poles is replaced by air o Counterclockwise in the southern hemisphere
moving through the upper atmosphere from lower o Deflection is associated with rotation of earth
latitudes
o Subsidence at the poles creates areas of high
pressure so the polar regions receive little
precipitation
o Polar deserts- precipitation sa poles
 Ferrell cells
o Intermediate cell between Hadley and polar
o William Ferrell
o Driven by the movement of Hadley and polar cells
and by polar front
o Polar front: energy exchange between tropical and
polar air masses

OCEAN CURRENTS ARE DRIVEN BY SURFACE WINDS
 Coriolis effect- deflection of path of the wind
o Actual conservation of momentum
o Currents in air and water are deflected right in the
N and left in the S
o An effect whereby a mass moving in a rotating
system experiences a force acting perpendicular
to the direction of motion and to the axis of rotation
 Trade winds
o Coriolis effect results in surface winds being
deflected to the west pag towards the equator from
the high pressure zones
o Importance to the global transport of trade goods
in sailing ships during the 15th-19th century
o Westerlies—winds blowing toward the poles from
areas of high pressure, deflected to east
 Presence of continental land masses and oceans
complicates idealized depiction of wind patterns
 Water has a higher heat capacity than land
o Water can absorb and store more energy without
its temp changing than land can
o Solar radiation heats land surface more than
ocean water I summer
o Oceans retain more heat and remain warmer in
winter
o Seasonal air temp changes less extreme over the
oceans than on land
o Because winds blow from areas of high pressure
to low pressure, seasonal shifts in pressure cells
influence the direction of the prevailing winds
o Effect of land areas on devt of semipermanent
pressure cells (figure sbove) is more pronounced
in the northern hemisphere because dito yung bulk
ng land mass
Summer
o Air over the oceans is cooler and denser than over
land pag summer
o Semipermanent zones of high pressure form over
the ocean (30 N and S)
Winter
o Air over continent is cooler and denser
o High pressure cells develop in the temperate
zones over large continental areas
 Wind moving across the ocean surface pushes the
surface water
 Coriolis effect  water appears to move at an angle to
the wind
 Pattern similar to but not identical to prevailing winds
 Current speed is only 2-3% of wind speed
 Surface and deep layers of ocean don’t mix because of
differences in temp and salinity
o Sa taas yung warmer and less saline, less dense
 Global circulation of water (Global conveyor belt)
o Warm tropical surface currents reach the polar
region (Antarctica and Greenland) their water
loses heat to surrounding env and becomes cooler
and denser
o Water cools enough for ice to form and the salinity
of unconverted water increases so it sinks deeper
o Dense downwelling currents move toward equator
carrying cold polar water toward warmer tropical
oceans
o Grand ocean conveyor belt – large system of
interconnected surface and deep ocean currents
that links the pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans
 Important means of transferring heat to
polar regions

 Zones of upwelling
o Deep ocean currents connect with surface
currents at zones of upwelling
o Deep ocean water rises to the surface
o Occurs when prevailing winds blow nearly parallel
to the coastline
o Western coast of N and S America and westward
flowing equatorial pacific ocean
o Force of the wind + Coriolis  surface waters flow
away from the coast and deeper colder waters rise
to replace them
o Coriolis effect  water to the N and S of the
equator is deflected slightly away from the equator
 divergence of surface water and a zone of
upwelling
 Effects of upwelling
o Creates a cooler and moister environment for the
local environment
o Biological activity in surface waters
o Upwelling brings nutrients that accumulate below
back to the photic zone
 Photic zone- layer of surface water where
there is enough light to support
photosynthesis
 When organisms in the surface waters
die, their bodies and the nutrients they
contain sink
 Nutrients that accumulate in deep water
and in sediments at the bottom of the
ocean
o Upwelling zones are among the most productive
open ocean ecosystems bc nutrients increase
growth of phytoplankton which provide food for
zooplankton which in turn support the growth of
their consumers
 Phytoplankton – small free-floating algae
and other photosynthetic orgs
 Zooplankton – free-floating animals and
protists
 Ocean currents influence the climates of the regions
where they flow
o Gulf stream and north atlantic drift contributes to
warmer winters in Scandinavia than in locations at
the same latitude in N America
 Temp difference reflected in vegetation
 Deciduous forests common on
Scandinavian coast
o Winds blowing eastward across the Atlantic pick
up heat from ocean and contributes to warmer
climate in N Europe
o Gulf stream also keeps north atlantic ice-free most
of the winter
o Ocean currents responsible for 40% of heat
exchanged between the tropics and the polar
regions
 Ocean currents sometimes referred to as
heat pumps or thermal conveyers
o 60% transferred by the winds
GLOBAL CLIMATE PATTERNS
OCEANIC CIRCULATION AND DISTRIBUTION AND
TOPOGRAPHY OF CONTINENTS INFLUENCE GLOBAL
TEMPERATURES
 Global pattern of solar radiation
o Explains why temp at earth’s surface become
progressively cooler from the equator to the poles
o Changes in temp not parallel with changes in
latitude
 Variation of temp across same latitude
o 3 major influences that alter the global pattern of
temp
o Ocean currents, land and water distribution,
elevation
  Ocean Currents
o As discussed earlier sa gulf stream
o Ex: influence of Humboldt current is noticeable on
the west coast of south America where
temperatures are cooler that similar latitudes
 Note: difference in heat capacity between oceans and
continents not reflected in average annual temperatures
shown above
o Annual temp variation is not depicted in the above
fig
 Air temp over land show greater seasonal variation with
warmer temp in summer and cooler temp in winter than
those over oceans
o Major impact on the distribution of organisms
o See figure above
 Elevation
o Elevation above sea level has an important
influence on continental temperatures
o Note in the colorful figure: may difference yung
temp sa may indian subcontinent and asia bc of
the Himalayas and Tibetan plateau
 Extreme change in elevation in a very
short distance
o Colder climates at higher elevations
AIR DENSITY
 Fewer air molecules to absorb the
infrared energy radiating from earth’s
surface
 Heating of air by the ground surface is
less effective because of the lower air
density
LAPSE RATE
 Exchange air more effectively with cooler
air in the surrounding atmosphere
 Atmosphere is warmed mainly by infrared
radiation emitted by earth’s surface ->
temp of the atmosphere decreases with
increasing distance from the ground
 Lapse rate: decrease in temp with
increasing height above the surface
 In addition, wind velocity increases with
increasing elevation bc less friction w
ground
PATTERNS OF ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE AND
TOPOGRAPHY INFLUENCE PRECIPITATION
 Location of Hadley, Ferrell, and polar cells suggest
precipitation should be highest in the tropical latitudes bet
23.5 N and S and in a band at about 60 N and S and
lowest im zones around 30 N and S
o African continent displays pattern closest to this
idealized precip distribution
o Deviation in America associated with
semipermanent high-pressure and low-pressure
cells and large mountain chains
 Pressure cells influence cloud formation and movement
of moist air from oceans to continents
 Ex: high pressure over south pacific ocean decreases
precip along the central west coast of S America
 Ex: Atacama desert located along the pacific coast of
chile
o Associated w presence of high-pressure cell and
the blockage of air masses moving from the east
by the Andes
 High pressure over atlantic ocean increases flow of moist
air to southeastern N America
 Mountains influence precipitation patterns by forcing air
moving across them to rise  enhance local precip
REGIONAL CLIMATE INFLUENCES
 Climate differences resulting from effects of oceans and
continents on regional energy balance and influence of
mountains on air flow and temp
 Vegetation reflects regional climate differences
 Vegetation impacts climate via energy and water balance
PROXIMITY TO OCEANS INFLUENCES REGIONAL
CLIMATES
 Maritime climate – for coastal terrestrial regions that are
influenced by an adjacent ocean
o Little variation in daily and seasonal temperatures
o Higher humidity
o Influence of oceans tends to be accentuated on
west coast in N hemisphere and east coast sa S
hemisphere
 Continental climate – middle of large continental land
masses
o Limited to mid and high latitudes
o Large seasonal changes in solar radiation
accentuate effect of low heat capacity of land
mass

 Influence of land and water on climate
MOUNTAINS INFLUENCE WIND PATTERNS AND
GRADIENTS IN TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION
 Visually apparent in the elevational patterns of vegetation
in arid regions
 Grasslands  forests  alpine grasslands
 Vegetation reflects rapid change in climate that occur over
short distances in mountains
 ↓ temperature, ↑ precipitation, ↑ wind speed along with
elevation
 Windward slopes
o Air is forced upward when it encounters a
mountain range
o Uplifted air cools when it rises, water vapor
condenses to form clouds and precipitation
o Amt of precipitation increases with elevation
o Windward slopes = slopes that face the prevailing
wind
 Rainshadow effect on the leeward slope
o Lose most of moisture before cresting over the
summits
o Loss of moisture + warming of air as it moves
down dries the air mass
o Lower precipitation and soil moisture
o Sparser and more resistant vegetation
 Mountains can also generate local wind and precipitation
patterns
o East facing slopes receive more solar radiation
from the rising sun and thus become warmer than
surrounding slopes of the lowland
o Differential heating = localized upslope winds in
the mountains
o Depending on moisture content of air and
prevailing winds at higher elevations, clouds may
form
 These clouds can generate local
thunderstorms that may move off the
mountains and into surrounding lowlands
o Night time cooling more pronounced bc thinner
atmosphere absorbs and reradiated less energy
and allows more heat to be lost from the ground
surface
 Allows more heat loss from ground
surface
o Daily upslope and nightly downslope winds
 Influences vegetation distributions in
temperate zones
VEGETATION AFFECTS CLIMATE VIA SURFACE ENERGY
EXCHANGE
 Climate determines where and how organisms can live
 Organisms also influence the climate system in several
ways
 Amount and type of vegetation influences how the ground
surface interacts with solar radiation and wind and how
much water it loses to the atmosphere
o Albedo – amount of solar radiation that a surface
reflects
 Influenced by presence and type of
vegetation, soil, and topography
 Texture of earth’s surface is also influenced by vegetation
o Rough surface allows greater transfer of energy to
atmosphere by convection than smooth surface
 o Vegetation disrupts air flow at ground surface   PERIHELION  Point where earth is closest to the sun
turbulence  brings more surface air into the in January
atmosphere  APHELION  point where earth is farthest away (July)
o Vegetation can cool atmosphere through
transpiration
o Transpiration – evaporation of water from inside a
plant via its leaves
o ↑ leaf area per unit of ground surface area, ↑
transpiration

 EVOTRANSPIRATION – water loss from transpiration +

water loss from evaporation
o Evotranspiration transfers energy (latent heat) as
well as water into the atmosphere

 ↓ vegetation, ↑ albedo, ↓ absorption of solar radiation, ↓

heating of land surgace
o lower heat gain is offset by lower evotranspirative
cooling
o lower latent heat flux due to loss of leaf area
o Lower evotranspiration reduce surface cooling
and leads to lower precipitation CHAPTER III – THE BIOSPHERE
o TLDR: warmer, drier regional climate
CLIMATE VARIATION OVER TIME
Great plains (central part of NAmerica) vs. Serengeti plain of
SEASONALITY RESULTS FROM THE TILT OF EARTH’S AXIS
Africa
 Axis tilted at an angle of 23.5 ‐ Dati superficially similar
 365.25 day jourey around the sun
 ‐ GP – low biological diversity; SP – largest and most
diverse
Extinction of large mammals of N. America
‐ Changes in habitat or food supply
Terrestrial biomes are characterized by the growth forms of the
dominant vegetation.
Biomes
 large-scale biological communities shaped by
physical environment in w/c they are found
 reflect climate variation
 categorized by most common growth forms of plants
o size and morphology
 ex. Leaves – thickness,
deciduousness, succulence
o immobile, must cope with environmental
extremes to survive and biological pressures
(competition for water, nutrients, light)
o plant growth factors are good indicators of
physical envt
o different forms in response to selection
pressures:
 selection pressures: aridity, high
and subfreezing temps, intense
solar radiation, nutrient-poor soils,
grazing by animals, crowding by
neighbors
 deciduous leaves – exposure to
subfreezing temperatures/
Large gradient in climate
extended dry period
 woody tissues – increase height
and ability to capture sunlight
Convergence: evolution of similar growth forms among
distantly related species in response to similar selection
pressures
Terrestrial communities
 Tropical forests – multiple verdant layers, high growth
rates & tremendous species diversity
 Polar regions – scattered cover of tiny plants clinging
to the ground, high winds, low temps, dry soils
Tropics = high rainfall and warm, invariant temperatures
Subtropical regions = rainfall more seasonal, pronounced dry
and wet seasons
Deserts = zones of high pressure, rain-shadow effects
Temperate and polar zones = subfreezing temperatures during
winter
Land use change: effects of land conversion and resource
extraction by humans
‐ grasslands are transformed the most
1. TROPICAL RAINFORESTS
 in low-altitude tropics where precipitation exceeds
2,000 mm annually
 warm, seasonally invariant temps
 seasonal rhythms are generally absent and plants
grow continuously
 substantial amount of living plant biomass
 most productive ecosystems
 *contain 50% of Earth’s species
 In Central and south America, Africa, Australia and
southeast asia
 Characterized by broad-leaved evergreen and
deciduous trees
 Light
 5 layers of plants
o Emergent trees – make up canopy of the
forest
o Lianas – wood vines
o Epiphytes – grow on tree branches; cling to
canopy and emergent trees
o Understory – grow in shade of canopy
o Shrubs and forbs – forest floor
 Threat: Disappearing rapidly due to logging and
conversion of forests to pasture and croplands
 Regrowing but soils are nutrient-poor so longer
recovery
2. TROPICAL SEASONAL FORESTS AND
SAVANNAS
 Rainfall becomes seasonal, pronounced wet and dry
seasons
 Vegetation: shorter stature, lower tree densities, an
increasing degree of drought deciduousness, leaves
dropping from the trees during the dry season
 Abundance of grasses and shrubs, fewer trees
 Include tropical dry forests, thorn woodlands, tropical
savannas
 Frequency of fires depends on length of dry season
 Savannas: promoted by recurrent fires; communities
dominated by grasses with intermixed trees and
shrubs
 Thorn woodlands
o Dominated by widely spaced trees and
shrubs
o Thorns on trees – deterrent to herbivores
o In regions with climates intermediate
between tropical dry forests and savannas
 Threat: human demand for wood and agricultural
land; conversion to cropland and pasture
3. DESERTS
 Sparse populations of plants and animals
 High temps and low water availability
 Subtropical position due to descending air of Hadley
cells
 o Descending air creates zones of high
pressure which inhibit the formation of
storms and their associated precipitation
 Low precipitation + high temperature + high rates of
evapotranspiration  limited supply of water
 Major desert zones in the Sahara, the Arabian
deserts, the Atacama Desert of Chile and Peru, the
Chihuahuan, Sonoran and Mojave deserts of N.
America
 Stem succulence in desert plants – store water; help
plant continue function during dry periods
 Drought deciduous shrubs and grasses
 Abundance of organisms may be low, species
diversity high
 Threats:
o Livestock grazing – risky due to
unpredictable nature of the precipitation
o Agriculture – failed due to salinization
 Desertification: loss of plant cover and soil erosion
due to long-term droughts and unsustainable grazing
practices
4. TEMPERATE GRASSLANDS
 Vast, undulating expanses of grass-dominated
landscapes
 Greater seasonal temperature variation than tropical
climates, w/ increasing periods of subfreezing
temperatures toward the poles
 Warm, moist summers and cold, dry winters
 Precipitation high enough to support forests
 Frequent fires and grazing prevent establishment of
trees and maintain dominance of grasses
 Threats: agricultural and pastoral development
o Central north America and Eurasia
 Most human-influenced biome on earth
 Summer rainy season
5. TEMPERATE SHRUBLANDS AND WOODLANDS
 Seasonality of precipitation
 Woodlands: open canopy of trees, and shrublands in
regions with a winter rainy season
 Precipitation primarily in winter and hot, dry weather
occurs throughout late spring, summer and fall
 Evergreen shrubs and trees
o Evergreen leaves – allow plants to be active
during cooler, wetter periods and lower their
nutrient requirements since they do not have
to develop new leaves
o Sclerophyllous trees – tough, leathery, stiff
 well adapted to dry soils and
continue to photosynthesize and
grow at reduce rates during hot, dry
summer.
 Help deter consumption by
herbivores and prevent wilting as
water is lost
 Fire as common feature
o Without regular fires (30-40 year intervals)
temperate shrublands may be replaced by
forests of oaks, pines, junipers, or
eucalyptus
o Regular fire + unique climate of temperate
shrublands = promote high species diversity
 Threats: converted to croplands and vineyards
o Climate and nutrient-poor soils limited extent
of agricultural and pastoral development
o Increase in human populations  increase
freq of fire  decrease ability of shrubs to
recover  replacement by invasive annual
grasses
6. TEMPERATE DECIDUOUS FORESTS
 Deciduous leaves solution to extended periods of
freezing weather
o Leaves more sensitive to freezing bc of high
lvl of psychological activity associated with
photosynthesis
 Enough rainfall to support tree growth & soils fertile
enough to supply nutrients lost when leaves are shed
in the fall
 Primarily limited to Northern Hemisphere
 Eastern and western edges of Eurasia, eastern north
America
 Oak, maple, beech trees
 Canopy trees, shorter trees, shrubs and forbs
 Species diversity lower than tropical forests
 Threat : Focus for agricultural development
o Fertile soils and climate conducive to growth
of crops
o Widespread forest clearing for crop and
wood production
o Agriculture shifted toward temperate
grasslands and the tropics
o Species in second-growth forests differ:
 Nutrient loss from soil
 Loss of some species due to
introductions of invasive species
7. TEMPERATE EVERGREEN FORESTS
 Wide range of environmental conditions – warm
coastal zones to cool continental and maritime
climates
 Precipitation varies
o “temperate rainforests” – temperate
evergreen forests with high levels of
precipitation
 Nutrient-poor soils due to acidic nature onf leaves of
evergreen trees
 Regular fires promote persistence
 Northern and Southern Hemispheres
 Diversity lower than deciduous and tropical forests
 Needle-leaved conifers (pines, junipers, Douglas fir)
 Threats:
o Conifers – high-quality wood and pulp for
paper production
 Subjected to extensive clearing
o Suppression of naturally occurring fires
 More intense fires when they do
occur, increased spread of insect
pests and pathogens
o Air pollution – damage and more susceptible
to stress
8. BOREAL FORESTS/ TAIGA
 Severity of winters
 Plants cope with low air temperatures and permafrost
o Permafrost: subsurface soil layer that
remains frozen year-round for at least 3
years
 Impedes water drainage, soils are
moist to saturated
 Precipitation is low
 Coniferous species – spruces, pines, larches
(deciduous needle-leaved trees) + extensive
deciduous birch forests
o Conifers resist damage from winter freezing
better than angiosperm trees
 Only in N. Hemisphere
o Largest biome in area
o 1/3 of Earth’s forested land
 Soils are cold and wet  limit decomposition of plant
material
 Rate of plant growth > rate of decomposition
 During extensive summer droughts – conducive to
forest fires set off by lightning
 Threats:
o Less affected by human activities
o Logging
o Oil and gas development – mining of oil
sands
o Global carbon cycle
 Store of organic matter in the soil
 Climate warming  more rapid
decomposition  higher rates of
carbon release from boreal forest
soils  increasing atmospheric
greenhouse gas concentrations 
additional warming
9. TUNDRA
 Trees cease to be dominant
 Primarily in arctic and edges of Antarctic Peninsula
 Zones of high pressure  poleward decrease in
temp and precipitation
 Sedges, forbs, grasses & low-growing shrubs (heaths,
willows, birches)
 Lichens and mosses
 Summer growing season is short, days are long
 Plant and lichens survive long winter by going
dormant, maintaining living tissues under the
snow/soil, where they are insulated from cold air
temps
 Similarities with Taiga
o Temperatures are cold
o Precipitation is low
o Permafrost is widespread
 Many areas wet – permafrost keeps the precipitation
that does fall from percolating to deeper soil layers
 Repeated freezing and thawing of surface soil layers
 polygons of soil at surface with upraised rims and
depressed centers
 Where soils are coarser and no permafrost  soils
may be dry plant cope with low water availability
 Herds of caribou and musk oxen + predators (wolves
and brown bears) + migratory birds
 Largest pristine regions on Earth
 Human activities:
o Exploration and devt of energy resources
o Climate warming
 Increased losses of permafrost
 Catastrophic lake drainage
 Reduced carbon storage in the soil
Mountains
 Create climate gradients
 Temp decreases rapidly with elevation
Mountain biological zones:
 Base – grasslands
 Lower montane zone – initial slope; pine savannas
 Montane zone – denser strands of mixed pine-aspen
forest; resemble temperate evergreen and deciduous
forest biomes
 Subalpine zone – spruce and fir trees; resemble
boreal forest biome
o Mountain treelines similar to transition from
boreal forest to tundra
 Alpine zone – diminutive plants (sedges, grasses,
forbs)
o Resembles the tundra
o Higher wind speeds
o More intense solar radiation
o Lower atmospheric partial pressures of O2
and CO2
FRESHWATER BIOLOGICAL ZONES
Biological zones in freshwater ecosystems are associated with
the velocity, depth, temperature, clarity, and chemistry of the
water
 o Open water inhabited by plankton (small
 Freshwater streams, rivers, lakes organisms suspended in water)
 Characterized by both plants and animals  Photic zone
o Reflect abundance of animals in aquatic o Phytoplankton – photosynthetic plankton;
ecosystems limited to surface layer of water with enough
 Lotic = flowing water light for photosynthesis
 First order streams (smallest streams at highest o Zooplanktons – tiny animals and protists
elevations)  Littoral zone
 Second-order streams – 2 first-order streams converged o Nearshore zone where photic zone reaches
 Individual streams form repeated patterns of riffles and to lake bottom
pools o Macrophytes, benthic phytoplankton, fish,
o Riffles: fast-moving portions of the stream zooplankton
flowing over coarse particles on stream bed, w/c  Benthic zone
increase oxygen input into water o Detritus as energy source for animals, fungi
o Pools: deeper portions of stream where water and bacteria; coldest part; low oxygen
flows more slowly over a bed of fine sediments concentration

Spatial zonation of a stream: Marine biological zones are determined by ocean depth, light
 Main channel – flowing water; swimmers (ex. Fishes) availability, and the stability of the bottom substrate
 Benthic zone – bottom of the stream ‐ Physical location relative to shorelines and ocean
o Home to invertebrates that consume detritus bottom
(dead organic matter): o Nearshore
 Mayfly and fly larvae o Shallow ocean
o Or hunt other organisms: o Pelagic
 Caddisflies and crustaceans o Photic
 Hyporheic zone – substrate below and adjacent to the o Benthic
stream where water still flows
o Rotifers, copepods, insects Tides: by gravitational attraction between Earth and moon and
sun
River continuum concept
 As stream flows downslope and increase in size, input NEARSHORE ZONES:
of detritus from vegetation adjacent to the stream
(riparian vegetation) decreases relative to volume of 1.) Estuaries
water and particle size in stream bed decreases, ‐ Junction of a river with ocean
facilitating greater establishment of aquatic plants in ‐ Variations in salinity
downstream direction o Flow of fresh water into ocean
o Influx of salt water flowing from ocean
 Importance of vegetation as food source decreases in
downstream direction ‐ Shellfish, crabs, marine worms, seagrasses
o Detritus important in stream source ‐ Threatened by water pollution carried by rivers
o Fine organic matter, algae and macrophytes
important downstream 2.) Salt marshes
‐ Formed by terrestrial sediments carried to shorelines
 Feeding styles of organism
by rivers
o Shredders – adapted to tear up and chew
‐ Dominated by vascular plants (grasses, rushes,
leaves; higher parts of stream
broad-leaved herbs)
o Collectors – collect fine particles from water;
most abundant in lower parts ‐ Input of nutrients from rivers enhance productivity
‐ Periodic flooding of marsh at high tide result in
gradient of salinity
Human effects on lotic systems: o Highest portions of the marsh can be most
saline bc infrequent flooding & evaporation
 Pollution - fertilizer
of water from the soil  progressive buildup
 Increase in inputs of sediments – deforestation
salts
 Introductions of non-native species ‐ Food and protection for fish, crabs, birds and
mammals
Lentic ecosystems: lake and still waters
Lake biotic assemblages: 1. Mangrove forests
 Pelagic zone
 ‐ Shallow coastal estuaries and nearby mudflats
inhabited by salt-tolerant evergreen trees and shrubs
‐ Mangrove roots trap mud and sediments carried by
water  build up and modify shoreline
‐ Provide nutrients to other marine ecosystems &
habitat for numerous animals
‐ Manatees, crab-eating monkeys, fishing cats, monitor
lizards
‐ Threatened by;
o Human development of coastal areas –
shrimp farms
o Water pollution
o Diversion of inland freshwater sources
o Cutting of the forests for wood
2. Rocky intertidal zones
‐ Stable substrate for algae and animals to anchor to
keep from being washed away by pounding waves
‐ Intertidal: part of shoreline affected by rise and fall of
tides
‐ zones associated with tolerance for temp changes,
salinity, desiccation, wave action, interactions with
other organisms:
o Sessile/attached organisms – barnacles,
mussels and seaweeds; cope with stresses
o Mobile organisms – sea stars, sea urchins;
move to tidepools to minimize exposure to
stresses
3. Sandy shores
‐ No stable anchoring surface
‐ Lack of seaweed  limit supply of potential food for
herbivorous animal
‐ Beneath the sand, invertebrates (sea worms & mole
crabs) find suitable habitat
‐ Smaller organisms (polychaete worms, hydroids) and
copepods live among grain of sands
o Protected from temp changes, desiccation at
low tide, turbulent water at high tide
SHALLOW OCEAN ZONES
1. Coral reefs
‐ Warm, shallow ocean water; form large colonies
‐ Symbiotic relationship with algae
o Obtain energy
o Provide protection and nutrients
‐ Extract calcium carbonate from seawater
‐ Reefs – massive formations when piled up
‐ Threat by human activities:
o Sediments carried by rivers  cover and kill
corals
o Excess nutrients increase algae growth 
increase coral mortality
o Changes in ocean temp  loss of algal
partners (bleaching)
o Increased atmospheric CO2  increased
ocean acidification  inhibit ability of corals
to form skeletons
o Increased incidence of fungal infections
2. Seagrass beds
‐ Seagrasses – submerged flowering plants
‐ Found on subtidal marine sediments, with mud/fine
sand
‐ Vegetative growth; produce seeds
‐ Marine algae grown on surface
‐ Threat:
o Inputs of nutrients from agricultural activities
 increase density of algae
o Susceptible to periodic outbreaks of fungal
diseases
3. Kelp beds
‐ In clear, shallow temperate ocean waters
‐ Large brown algae
o With specialized tissues resembling leaves
(fronds), stems (stipes), roots (holdfasts)
o Anchors on solid substrate
‐ Sea urchins, lobsters, mussels, abalones, seaweeds,
sea otters
OPEN OCEAN
 Pelagic zone: vastness and depth of open ocean
beyond the continental shelves
o Light availability determine life of
photosynthetic organisms  food
o Nektons: swimming organisms capable
of overcoming ocean currents –
cephalopods, fishes, sea turtles,
mammals
o Phytoplankton, zooplankton, pelagic
seabirds
o Organisms must overcome effect of
gravity and water currents
 Sargassum with gas-filled
bladders for buoyancy
o Deep-sea fishes w weak bone structure
to reduce weight, & lack gas bladder
since high pressures would collapse it
 Photic zone: surface waters with enough light for
photosynthesis; highest densities of organisms
 Benthic zone: ocean bottom
o Low temp, high pressure
o Bacteria, protists, sea worms
o Sea starts, sea cucumbers in ocean
floor
o Benthic predators use bioluminescence
to lure prey
Services from marine biological zones
 Food production
  Protection of coastal areas from erosion
 Uptake and stabilization of pollutants and nutrients
 Recreation
Effects of human activities
 Change in water temp
 Ocean acidification
 Increase in UV radiation
 Inputs of pollutants overharvesting of sea creatures
The overkill hypothesis: rapidity of extinctions and greater
proportions of large animals reflected by hunting efficiency of
early humans
CHAPTER IV TEMP AND WATER
Case study: Frozen frogs
 Cryonics: preservation of bodies of deceased people
at subfreezing temperatures
o Goal of bringing them back to life and
restoring them to good health
How organisms cope with the environmental extremes they
face: tolerance & avoidance
Physiological ecology: interactions between organisms and
physical environment that influence their survival and
persistence
Problems to overcome to survive freezing:
 Water forms needle-like crystals that can penetrate
and destroy cell membranes and organelles
 Supply of oxygen to tissue is restricted due to lack of
circulation and breathing
 As ice forms, pure water is pulled from cells 
resulting in shrinkage & increase in solute
concentration
Each species has a range of environmental tolerances that
determines its potential geographic distribution.
Ecological success and physical environment
 Ability to obtain energy and resources required to
maintain its metabolic function (grow and reproduce)
 Extreme environmental conditions
o If exceed what an organism can tolerate 
die
o Actual distribution differs from potential
distribution due to dispersal ability,
disturbance interactions with other
organisms
Climate envelope: range of climate conditions under which
species occur; predict response to climate change
Stress: environmental change results in decrease in rate of an
important physiological process, lowering the potential for an
organism’s survival, growth/reproduction
Acclimatization: organisms adjust physiology,
morphology/behavior to lessen effect of an environmental
change and minimize associated stress; short term, reversible
process
Adaptation: change in genetic makeup as abundance of
individuals with favored traits increased
 Similarity with acclimatization – change that minimize
stress
 Difference – long term, genetic response of
population to environmental stress that increases its
ecological success under stressful conditions
Ecotypes: populations with adaptations to unique
environments
The temperature of an organism is determined by exchanges
of energy with the external environement
 Aquatic environment – temperature changes over
seasonal and daily time scales
 Open ocean environment – very little temporal
variation; ocean’s massive volume and heat capacity
 50 degrees Celsius – extreme upper limit for
metabolically active plants & animals
 -2 - -5 degrees Celsius – extreme lower limit; water in
cells freeze
 Dormancy: little/no metabolic activity; survive periods
of extreme heat/cold
 Internal temperature – energy it gains & energy it
loses
Temperature controls physiological activity:
 Enzymes – catalyze biochemical reactions; stable at
limited range of temps
o at high temp – lose structural
integrity/denatured (40 – 70 degrees C)
o upper limit is lower than temp which
enzymes become denatured
o extreme lower limit is -5 degrees
o isozymes: diff enzymes produced by some
species w/ diff temp optima, acclimatization
to changes in environmental temp
 influencing the properties of membranes – lipid
molecules
o low temps – solidify, proteins and enzymes
lose their function
o lose function as filters when solidified, leak
cellular metabolites
 water availability
o warmer the air, more water vapor it can hold
o rate of water loss in bodies increases as air
temperature increases

Modify energy balance:
 conduction
o contact of warm skin with cool water cause
heat E to be lost from body
o direct transfer of E from warmer, more
rapidly moving molecules to cooler, more
slowly moving molecules
 convection
o when cool water and air move across
surface of warmer body, heat E is carried
away
o latent heat transfer – water from liquid to
vapor as it evaporates on skin’s surface
 moving into shade lowers amount of E received from
solar radiation
In plants
 heat loss through transpiration and evaporation
(evapotranspiration)
 ∆Hplant = SR + IRin – IRout ± Hconv ± Hcond - Het
o If plant warmer than surrounding air, Hconv
and H cond negative
o ∆Hplant is (+) = more energy input than output
o ∆Hplant is (-) = more heat is lost than gained
 Adjustments – leaves (primary photosynthetic organs
& most temp-sensitive)
o Change in rate of transpirational water loss
 Stomates – guard cells; control
rate of transpiration; gateway for
both transpirational water loss and
uptake of CO2
o Change in leaf surface reflective
properties/leaf orientation toward sun
 High demand to replace fallen
leaves may favor protecting existing
leaves
 Pubescence: presence of light-
colored or white hairs on leaf
surface, wc lowers amount of solar
radiation absorbed by leaf surface;
lower effectiveness of convective
heat loss
 Drier environment  more leaf
pubescence  reflect more solar
radiation
o Change surface roughness (convective heat
transfer)
 Heat loss from leaf by convection –
air temp < leaf temp
 Boundary layer: zone of turbulent
flow; lowers convective heat loss
 Air flowing close to surface of leaf
 friction  flow more turbulent
 lower convective heat loss
In animals:
 ∆Hanimal = SR + IRin – IRout ± Hconv ± Hcond - Hevap + Hmet
 Internal generation of heat
o Maintain relatively constant internal temps
near the optimum for physiological function
o Expand geographic ranges
 Ectotherms: regulate body temp through E exchange
with external environment
o Greater tolerance for variations in body temp
vs. endotherms, bc less able to adjust body
temp
o Exchange of heat btwn animal and envt
depends on surface area relative to volume
of the animal
 Larger SA relative to V = greater
heat exchange, but harder to
maintain a constant internal temp
 Smaller SA relative to V = decrease
animal’s ability to gain/lose heat
 Surface area-to-volume ratio
decreases as body size increases
 ability to exchange heat with
environment decreases
o Small aquatic ectotherms at same temp with
surrounding water
o Some larger aquatic animals can maintain
body temp warmer than surrounding water
o Skipjack tuna /Katsuwonis pelamis – use
muscle activity/heat exchange btwn blood
vessels to maintain body temp
o Mobility – adjust body temp by moving to
places that are warmer/cooler
o Reptiles alter coloration and change
orientation to the sun
o Activities of ectothermic animals are limited
to certain temp ranges
o Ectotherm in temperate and polar regions
 Avoid -Seasonal migration;
movement to local microhabitats
 Tolerate – minimize damage
associated with ice formation in
cells and tissues
 Glycerol – minimize
formation of ice crystals
and lower freezing point of
body fluids
 Endotherms: rely primarily on internal heat
generation; birds & mammals
o Other examples:
 some fishes
 insects – bees generate heat for
metabolic function and defense;
contracting flight muscles; swarm
larger invader (hornets)
 few plant species – Symplocarpus
foetidus warms its flowers during
spring
 o tolerate narrower range of body temps (30-
45 degrees Celsius)
o expand geographic ranges and times of year
active
o high demand for food to supply E to support
metabolic heat pdtn
o rate of metabolic activity - external temp and
rate of heat loss
 rate of heat loss related to body
size due to influence on surface
area-to-volume ratio
 small endotherms – higher
metabolic rates more E
 higher feeding rates
o thermoneutral zone: maintain constant
basal (resting) metabolic rate over a range of
environmental temperatures
o lower critical temperature: environmental
temp drops at point wc heat loss > metabolic
heat pdtn body temp drops  increase in
metabolic heat generation
o retain metabolically generated heat
 insulation: feathers, furs, fat –
provide barrier limiting conductive
heat loss
 feathers and furs provide
layer of still air similar to
boundary layer
o torpor: state of dormancy; small endotherms
alter their lower critical temperature during
cold periods
 metabolic rate is 50%-90% lower
than its basal metabolic rate,
substantial energy savings
 length of time limited by reserves of
energy
 daily torpor
o hibernation: several weeks during winter
 only possible for animals with
enough food
 store enough energy reserves (fat)
 rare in polar climates
o Denning: large animals; long-term winter
sleep
 Body temp decreases only slightly
The water balance of an organism is determined by exchanges
of water and solutes with the external environment.
 Maintain water balance and balance uptake and loss
of solutes/salts
o Movements of water and salts influence
each other
o Hyperosmotic = aquatic environment more
saline
o Isosmotic = same salinity
o Hypoosmotic = less saline than organism’s
cells/blood
 Water flows along energy gradients, high energy to
low energy
o Gravity – gradient of potential energy
o Pressure – elephants
 When solutes are dissolved in water, solution loses
energy
 Osmotic potential: energy associated with dissolved
solutes
 Gravitational potential: energy associated with
gravity; in very tall trees
 Pressure/turgor potential: energy associated with
exertion of pressure
 Matric potential: energy associated with attractive
forces on the surfaces of large molecules inside cells
or on the surfaces of soil particles
 Water potential: overall water energy status
o Ψ = ΨO + Ψp + Ψm
 Osmotic potential: (-) cos lowers E
status of water
 Pressure potential: (+) if pressure is
exerted; (-) if under tension
 Matric potential: (-)
 Resistance: force that impedes movement of water
along E gradient
o Waxy cuticle, skin
 Soils as reservoirs of water
o Balance btwn water inputs and outputs, soil
texture, topography
o Matric potential – attractive forces on
surfaces of soil particles
 Sandy soils – less water than fine-
textured soils (hold onto water more
tightly)
 Mixed coarse and fine particles –
effective in storing water &
supplying it to plants and soil
organisms
Water balance
 Water balance of single-celled microorganisms
determined by osmotic potential
 Osmotic adjustment: acclimatization response that
involves changing their solute concentration and
osmotic potential
o Synthesizing organic solutes/ use inorganic
salts from medium
In plants
 Rigid cell wall of cellulose
o Bacteria and fungi –
chitin/peptidoglycan/lipopolysaccharides
o Water balance due to positive turgor
pressure – resist pressure
 Wilting – sign of water stress
 Take up water fr sources w water potential higher
than their own
 Cell membranes act as solute filter
 Terrestrial plants acquire water via roots
 o Earliest land plants wo roots
 Mycorrhizal fungi – take up water
and nutrients fr soil
 Lose water by transpiration when stomates open to
allow CO2
o Replace water to avoid water stress
 Soil (highest water potential)  roots  xylem 
leaves
 Daytime dehydration and nighttime rehydration
 If leaf cells become dehydrated that turgor is lost 
stomates close
 Shed leaves
 Signaling system that prevents water stress
o Soil dries  roots send hormonal signal
(abscisic acid) to guard cells  close
stomates  lower rate of water loss
 Plants of dry envt
o w thick waxy coating (cuticle) on leaves
o maintain higher ration of root biomass to
biomass of stems and leaves
 alter growth of roots
 wet soils + harmful fungal species = root death  cut
off water supply  wilting
In animals:
 marine invertebrates – isosmotic in seawater
 marine vertebrates
o sharks & rays – isosmotic
o marine teleost & mammals – hypoosmotic in
seawater
o fish exchange water and salts through gills
(organs of O2 and CO2 exchange)
 freshwater animals – hyperosmotic; gain water and
lose salts
 excess water – dilute urine
 terrestrial animals
o lower evaporative water loss - high skin
resistance
 tradeoff – compromise exchange of
gases with atmosphere
o living in envt for high water intake
 trade off – reliance is risky if source
of water fails
 invertebrates have higher tolerance for water loss
 amphibians – higher tolerance but lower resistance to
water loss than mammals & birds
o rely on stable water supply
o thin skin – low resistance to water loss
 reptiles
o thick skin – protection for internal organs;
effective barrier to water loss
o outer skin – plates/scales; very high
resistance to water loss
 sweat glands in mammals
o tradeoff btwn resistance to water loss &
evaporative cooling
 arthropods
o highest resistance to water loss among
terrestrial animals
o outer exoskeleton of hard chitin & coated w
waxy hydrocarbons that prevents water movt
 kangaroo rats
o rarely drink water
o eat dry seeds
o oxidative metabolism – converting carbs and
fats into water & CO2
o minimize water loss
 active at night during hot periods
 underground burrows during the
day
 thicker, oilier skin, with fewer sweat
glands
 effective removal of water by their
kidneys and intestines – produce
most concentrated urine
CHAPTER V – COPING WITH
ENVIRONMENTAL VARIATION: ENERGY
Toolmaking crows: a case study
 Wolfgang Kohler
o Observed chimps in captivity made tools to
retrieve bananas stashed
 Jane Goodall
o Chimpanzees using grass blades & plant
stems to fish termites in holes
 Gavin Hunt
o Corvids (crows, ravens, magpies, jays)
o Use food-collecting tools manufactured from
plants
 Hooked twig fashioned from a shoot
stripped of its leaves and bark
 Serrated leaf clipped from
Pandanus tree
o Snag insect larvae, spiders, other arthropods
& pull them from wood
 A cost to tool use: collecting materials and fashioning
tools can be time-consuming
Stable isotope measurements to evaluate food and measure
lipid contents of potential food
  Animals act as autotrophs; consume photosynthetic
Energy organisms/by living with them in a close relationship
 Determine physiological maintenance, growth, Radiant and chemical energy captured by autotrophs is
reproduction converted into stored energy in carbon-carbon bonds
 Energy input stops  biological functioning stops AUTOTROPHY

o Enzyme system fails Photosynthesis: use sunlight to provide the energy needed to
take up carbon dioxide and synthesize organic compounds
o Cell membrane degrade
 Jan Baptist van Helmont: tested theory that plants
o Organelles cease to operate obtained raw material for their growth from soil
o Measured mass of dry soil in a pot 
Organisms obtain energy from sunlight, from inorganic planted a willow sapling
chemical compound, or through the consumption of organic o Photosynthetic uptake from CO2 from the air
compounds. was source of tree’s weight gain
 Photosynthetic organisms – some archaea, bacteria,
protists; most algae and plants
Sources of energy
 Leaves – primary tissue; but also in stem and
 Radiant energy: light from sun reproductive tissue
 Kinetic energy: motion of molecules that make up  Conversion of CO2 into carbs  used for energy
the objs storage and biosynthesis
 Chemical energy: stored in food consumed  Responsible for movement of CO2
Autotrophs 2 major steps:

 Energy from sunlight (photosynthetic) or from 1) Light-driven reactions

inorganic chemical compounds in their environment  Harvesting of energy from sunlight used to
(chemosynthetic) split water to provide electrons generating
 Convert E from sunlight/inorganic compounds  ATP and NADPH
chemical E stored in carbon-carbon bonds  Chlorophyll
Heterotrophs o Sunlight harvesting
o Green appearance because it
 Consume energy-rich organic compounds made by absorbs red and blue light, reflects
other organisms green
 Detritivores: consume nonliving organic matter  Additional pigments/accessory pigments
(earthworms & fungi) o Carotenoids – absorb blue and
 Parasites and herbivores: consume living organisms green, reflect red, yellow and
but not necessarily kill them orange
 Predators: consumers that capture and kill prey  Pigments
Holoparasites o In plants – in chloroplasts
 Holo = entire/whole o Bacteria – embedded in cell
 Plants that lost photosynthetic function and obtain E membrane
by parasitizing other plants o Photons: discrete units of light from
 No photosynthetic pigments; heterotrophs wc energy is absorbed
 Energy used to split water
 Ex. Dodder – attach to host plant by growing spirals
& provide electrons
around the stem and penetrate phloem of the host
using modified roots (haustoria) to take up carbs  Splitting of water generates oxygen
Hemiparasites o Atmospheric oxygen led to creation
of a layer of ozone (O3) that shields
 Photosynthetic but obtain some of their energy, organisms from high-E ultraviolet
nutrients and water from host plants radiation
 Ex. Mistletoe – draws water, nutrients and energy 2) Carbon reactions
from host tree  Fixation of carbon and synthesis of sugars
Symbiosis and subsequently carbs
  Carbon dioxide taken up from atmosphere
through stomates
 Ribulose 1,5 bisphosphate
carboxylase/oxygenase (rubisco)
o Enzyme; catalyzes uptake of CO2
and synthesis of a three-carbon
compound
(phosphoglyceraldehyde/PGA)
 PGA converted to six carbon
sugar
Net reaction of photosynthesis:
6 CO2 + 6 H2O  C6H12O6 + 6 O2
Constraints and solutions:
 Light
o Light response curve: portray relationship
between light level and plant’s
photosynthetic rate
o Light compensation point: there is enough
light that the plant’s photosynthetic CO2
uptake is balanced by its CO2 loss by
respiration
o Photosynthesis is limited by availability of
light
o Light saturation point: photosynthesis
increases only slightly as light increases
o Acclimatization to diff light levels involves a
shift in the light saturation point
 Olle Bjorkman
 Morphological changes – alter
thickness of leaves, variation in
number of chloroplasts
 Alter density of light harvesting
pigments & amounts of
photosynthetic enzymes available
for carbon reactions
o Average light levels is near transition point
btwn light limitation and light saturation
 Chlorophyll f
o Absorb light in the near-infrared region, just
beyond the red wavelengths
o Allow cyanobacteria to grow underneath
other photosynthetic organisms that use light
in the blue and red wavelengths
 Water availability – constraint on supply of CO2
o Low water availability  closure of stomates
 restricting entry of CO2 into leaves
 Trade-off: water conservation vs
energy gain
 Keeping stomates open while tissue
lose water can permanently impair
physiological processes
 Closing stomates limits
photosynthetic CO2 uptake,
increases chances of light damage
 Carotenoids to release energy as
heat
 Temperature
o influence rates of chemical reaction and
influence structural integrity of membranes
and enzymes
o acclimatize by synthesizing different forms of
photosynthetic enzymes with different temp
optima
o influence fluidity of cell and organelle
members
o cold sensitivity – loss of membrane fluidity
o high temps + intense sunlight – damage
photosynthetic membranes
 Nutrient concentrations
o Reflect leaves photosynthetic potential
o Most nitrogen associated with rubisco &
photosynthetic enzymes
o Higher amounts of nitrogen = higher
photosynthetic rates
o Why don’t all plants allocate their nitrogen in
leaves?
 Supply of nitrogen is low relative to
demand; N needed for growth and
other metabolic functions
 Increasing [N] = increase risk that
herbivores will consume the leaf,
plant-eating animals are often N
starved
Chemosynthesis: use energy from inorganic compounds to
produce carbohydrates
 Chemosynthetic bacteria/archaea – earliest
autotrophs; named after inorganic substrate they use
for E
 Organisms obtain electrons from inorganic
substrate/oxidize the inorganic substrate  electrons
two generate 2 ATP and NADPH (nicotinamide
adenine dinucleotide phosphate)  use energy to
take up carbons from gaseous CO2 (fixation of CO2)
 fixed carbon synthesizes carbohydrates/other
organic molecules  stored
 Alternate: bacteria use electrons from the inorganic
substrate directly to fix carbon
 Ex. Nitrifying bacteria
o Found in aquatic & terrestrial
o Convert ammonium into nitrite  oxidize to
nitrate
o Nitrogen cycling and plant nutrition
 Ex. Sulfur bacteria
 o Volcanic deposits, sulfur hot springs, acidic
mine wastes
o Use higher energy forms of sulfur, H2S and
HS-  produce elemental sulfur (S) wc is
insoluble and highly visible in the envt
o S as an electron donor to produce sulfate
(SO42-)
Calvin cycle: most common biochemical pathway in fixing
carbon
 Melvin Calvin
 Catalyzed by several enzymes, occurs in
chemosynthetic and photosynthetic
**Carbon as measure of energy – since E stored in C-C bonds
Environmental constraints have resulted in the evolution of
biochemical pathways that improve the efficiency of
photosynthesis.
PHOTOSYNTHETIC PATHWAYS
Photorespiration
 Rubisco can catalyze 2 competing reactions:
o Carboxylase reaction – CO2 taken up 
synthesis of sugars  release of O2
o Oxygenase reaction – O2 taken up 
breakdown of carbon compounds  release
of CO2
 Oxygenase; net loss of energy, potentially detrimental
for plants
 2 main factors for photosynthesis & photorespiration:
o Ratio of O2 to CO2 in atmosphere
 As atmospheric [CO2] decreases
relative to that of O2 = rate of
photorespiration increases relative
to photosynthesis
o Temperature
 Temp increases = rate of O2 uptake
catalyzed by rubisco increases =
solubility of CO2 in cytoplasm
decreases more than that of O2
 Photorespiration increases more
rapidly at high temps
 Protects the plant from damage to the photosynthetic
machinery at high light levels
o Experiment: tobacco plants genetically
altered to elevate/lower plants’ rates of
photorespiration. Subjected to high-intensity
light and recorded damage
o Plants w higher rates of photorespiration
showed less damage
 If atmospheric CO2 concentrations are low and temps
high, photosynthetic energy gain might not keep pace
with photorespiratory energy loss
C4 photosynthesis
 Reduces photorespiration
 Found in 18 plant families; grass family
 Corn, sugarcane, sorghum
 Biochemical specialization – pump that provides high
concs of CO2 to the Calvin cycle
o Greater supply of CO2 lowers rate of O2
uptake by rubisco, reducing photorespiration
 Morphological specialization – spatial separation of
regions in leaf where CO2 is taken up (mesophyll) and
where Calvin cycle operates (bundle sheath)
o Increase [CO2] where rubisco is found
 Steps:
o CO2 initially taken up by enzyme
phosphoenol pyruvate carboxylase
(PEPcase)
 Greater capacity to take up CO2
than rubisco
 Lacks oxygenase activity
 PEPcase fixes CO2 in mesophyll
tissue
o Once CO2 is taken up, 4-carbon compound
is synthesized and transported to bundle
sheath where Calvin cycle occurs
o 4-C compound broken down releasing CO2
to the Calvin cycle
o 3-C compound transported back to
mesophyll to continue C4 cycle
o Bundle sheath surrounded by waxy coating
that keeps CO2 from diffusing out
 High [CO2]
 Photosynthesize at higher rates than C3 plants under
environmental conditions that elevate rates of
photorespiration
 Water use efficiency – C4 plants have lower rates of
transpiration
 Ability of PEPcase to take up CO2 under the lower
CO2 concentrations that exist when stomates are not
fully open
 Benefit of C4 photosynthesis at high temps
Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) pathway
 Separates CO2 uptake and Calvin cycle temporally
 Open stomates at night
o Air temps at night are cooler, humidity is
higher
o Higher humidity  lower water potential
gradient btwn leaf and air  plant loses less
water by transpiration
  Close stomates at night when potential for water loss
is highest
 During the night when stomata open:
o Take up CO2 using PEPcase & incorporate it
into 4-carbon organic acid stored in vacuoles
o Increase in acidity in plant tissues during the
night
 During the day when stomata close:
o Organic acid is broken down, releasing CO2
to the Calvin cycle
o CO2 tissues higher than those in the
atmosphere during the day
 Efficiency of photosynthesis as they
suppress photorespiration
 Capacity to store 4-C organic acid
o Succulent, with thick fleshy leaves/stems;
enhance nighttime acid storage capacity
 Arid and saline environment; some in humid tropics
 Tropical CAM plants – epiphytes; rely on rainfall
 Some aquatic plants
o Facilitate uptake of CO2 at low concs found
in aquatic envt
 Facultative CAM: Can switch between C3 and CAM
photosynthesis
o Conditions favorable for daytime exchange –
C3 pathway (allows greater carbon gain than
CAM)
o As conditions become more arid/saline –
switch to CAM
How to measure what photosynthetic pathway is used?
 Succulent plants – CAM; well-developed bundle
sheath – C4
 Measure presence & activity of specific enzymes
 Measure the proportions of stable carbon isotopes
(13C/12C) in plant tissues
o Elements have an abundant “light” isotopic
form and one or more “heavy”
nonradioactive isotopic forms
o Stable isotopes – do not decay over time
o Ex. Carbon-13 heavier than more abundant
form carbon-12
o Delta = (Rsample-Rstandard)/ Rstandard x
1000
o Determine photosynthetic pathways in
plants, identify food sources of animals, track
movts of elements and rates of nutrient
cycling in ecosystems
o Due to difference in mass, isotopes can be
discriminated
o For ex. When rubisco catalyzes uptake of
CO2, it favors 12CO2 over 13CO2  plants
enriched in 12C and depleted in 13C
o C4 and CAM plants have less 12C and more
13C than C3 plants
 Initial CO2 uptake catalyzed by
PEPcase which discriminates
against 13CO2
Heterotrophs have adaptations for acquiring and assimilating
energy efficiently from a variety of organic sources.
Heterotrophs: consume energy-rich organic compounds fr
envt and convert to usable chemical E w/c breaks down carbs
(glycolysis)
 > water does not provide E
 Energy in food found in “dry matter” fraction
o Fiber – cellulose; poor energy source
o Carbohydrates – provide more E than amino acid
from proteins
o Fats – richer in E than carbs
o Amino acids – provide N
o Secondary compounds – not good E source;
decrease energy intake by binding to digestive
ensymes
o Herbivores eat more food to get same benefit as
carnivores, but carnivores expend more E finding
food
Diverse strategies of obtaining food:
 Prokaryotic heterotrophs – absorb food through cell
membrane
 Archaea, bacteria, fungi – excrete enzymes to evt; digest
food outside
 Microorganisms – bioremediation; cleaning toxic chemical
waste
o Oil spill as energy source
Diversity of insect mouthparts:
 Houseflies – “sponging” mouthparts; release saliva onto
their food then soak up and ingest partially digested
solution
 Female mosquitoes and aphids – piercing and sucking
mouthparts for extracting fluids (bloods from animals; sap
from plants)
 Biting flies – razor-sharp appendages that cut through skin
to draw blood for drinking
Adaptation in bird bills:
 Crossbills – asymmetrical bills with crossing tips; open
cones of coniferous trees and pull out seed for
consumption
o Speed of seed extraction – bill depth
o Speed of seed husking – width of bill where seed
is held
Digestion: breaks down proteins, carbs, fats into amino acids,
simple sugars and fatty acids
 Gizzards
 molars
 To cope w poor-quality diet, herbivores have longer
digestive tracts to increase food processing time and
increase surface area for absorbing energy
 Coprophagy – reingest feces; increase exposure of food to
digestive tract
 Ruminants – w rumen where large populns of bacteria
facilitate chemical breakdown of cellulose into simple
sugars; fermentation chamber
o Rumination – cud chewing; regurgitation of
material from forestomach for additional chewing;
“eat on the run” – consume large amounts of
plant in short time and minimize exposure to
predators
 Acclimatization – adjust digestive morphologies and
produce diff enzymes
o Select best food source